Game
by DandyBear
Summary: The game is what brought them all together, and it was the thing that made them drift apart, now it was the thing that was going to give Joey Wheeler his chance to shine.


disclaimer I don't own yugioh, but I do when I seep at night. :3

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><p>"Damn it Tristan! Put ya ugly mug up and help me get your ass back to the hotel!" Tristan simply giggled, finding Joey's frustration particularly funny for no reason.<p>

Joey Wheeler sighed, readjusting his steadily more sluggish friend while he tried to get a decent hold on his rising anger. He could faintly hear the Brooklyn accents from his earliest childhood years back when his father had been employed and the family, not yet broken, had moved to America for a couple of years.

Joey had the good fortune of learning over the years that when the stronger is accent was the faster that he was losing his temper. For as much as Tristan was going to owe him a major apology in the morning the last thing that he wanted to do take his anger out on his best friend.

Still no one could blame Joey for being as upset as he was. The blond shifted the tipsy brunette none too gently.

Four years.

Four years, since everything with the pharaoh and the evil spirit in Ryou's ring, and of course Malik's twisted dark side. Everyone has split up after it was all over. Tea followed her dream to that fancy dancing school in New York she had always talked about. Yugi went to college in America (though Joey knew the location had more to do with following Tea then Yuuge would ever admit to). Mai refused to stay tied down long before she had met any of them, though had promised to come back when Joey 'finally got a clue', a clue that took Joey exactly two and a half years to get.

Ryou took off back to England to look after his father when he took ill; the bastard left again as soon as he was better, but Ryou had missed his own homeland apparently because the brit had never came back. Malik stayed in Japan to start a new life for himself, because for as much as he may have turned over a new leaf, he still didn't want to look after a dead pharaoh with Ishizu. And then of course Kaiba had a corporation to run, and Where Kaiba went Mokuba was sure to follow.

It wasn't as none of them talked to one another. Joey had went to work after high school, and for a while it was nice living a calmer life. Despite joining the army Tristan managed to talk to him every day, and then there was Mai's letters...

No everyone hadn't forgotten everything that they had been through together but they still hadn't all been together since graduation, and now was the first time in four years that entire gang would be back together.

And Tristan had made Joey five hours late.

"_Just one drink, it'll be fine." Tristan slapped Joey's back playfully._

"_What why? Besides there will probably be alcohol at the opening ceremony." Joey had grumbled in response trying to rebalance his luggage after Tristan 'playful' gesture._

"_Yeah but you know how Serenity puffs up her cheeks whenever someone picks up a glass."_

"_Hmph. Did ya ever consider that she might have some issues with that?" Joey raised an eyebrow._

"_Of course! Which is while I'll have a glass before I see her and she'll be none the wiser."_

"_Fine! Just one glass, I don't wanna be late to meet up with Yuuge and the gang."_

Joey had been and would always be a sucker when it came to his little sister Serenity. She wouldn't want to see any of them with alcohol so why give Tristan the opportunity to upset her, especially when the knucklehead had actually thought ahead for himself for once.

But Tristan couldn't hold his liquor and Joey had to handle the bar fight that his friend had so graciously started for him.

What made it worse was that they were in unfamiliar territory, and Joey had never been the best with directions. The only reason why everyone was getting together in the first place was for the huge new tournament. It had been a while since Joey had played seriously and though he knew that Yugi had went on a tour or two being the king of games and all Joey doubt that any of them had truly picked up a deck since what went down mind realm.

Duel Monsters kind of died a little when the world wasn't constantly at stake. Even though most people couldn't see that monsters were really being summoned and that they were almost constantly in danger of being destroying. Yugi and everyone's battles had just added something special to the game.

Now Kaiba, rich bastard that he was, was trying to bring the game back. He weaseled his way through the government to bring the game to just about the only country in the world that didn't have it yet.

Jasalvii, Jasolvay… err something like that Joey knew that they were in one of the four sections of the country called Rosley.

It wasn't that the people weren't caught up on the times. The government just didn't want their children's lives being sucked up by a card game, and even Joey, who would never deny the wonders that dueling had brought to his life, had to admit that there was more than one occasion where he passed over homework in favor of putting together a new dueling strategy.

But somehow Richboy had managed it, and now players from all over the world were flooding in for what was supposed to be the biggest tournament of all time. Joey no doubt had only received his invitation because of Mokuba, despite being able to hold onto his title as one of the top duelist in the world.

And with a huge tournament, you needed some big names. So as more and more of the gang rsvp'd and realized that it was turning into an impromptu reunion everyone eventually just packed their bags and made the trip.

So not only had Tristan made him late for seeing the best friends that Joey had ever made in his life but for the opening ceremonies that had taken place earlier that night.

Joey sighed, readjusting Tristan's arm again. It still wouldn't be so bad if Tristan hadn't want to explore only serving to put them in the bad side of town.

Nothing about the neighborhood looked particularly dangerous, in fact it was one of the classiest places Joey had seen in a long time, but as the sun went down a kind of silent tension rose in the air that spoke only of bad things. Joey's experience made him take notice of how early people had started locking doors, and the quiet stirrings in the dark corners and alleyways.

Joey also knew that walking through streets like that with someone weighing you down made for an easy target.

It was ironic then, that Joey was thinking of the most inconspicuous way to find their way out of that part of town, when he heard a huge congregation of yelling and cursing. The few words that Joey could make out were single minded and focused. There was a gang, heavily armed by the sounds of it that desperately wanted to catch someone. As for whom Joey wasn't sure but what he did know was that gangs had a tendency of tearing through anyone who stood in their way, despite how unintentional it may be. Joey looked around quickly wondering why people lost the ability to walk _around_ objects when they were angry.

He quickly spotted a particularly dim alleyway to his left. As he and Tristan turned into it, he noted with dread that it was a dead end, though hopefully with the miniature mob's sights set on someone else they shouldn't have too much trouble avoiding any frays.

The universe however, did not often like to grant any of Joey Wheeler's wishes, which is most likely why said person being chased, happened to wind up right in Joey's lap, literally.

All Joey could make out was black, black, and more black against stark pale skin. The scent of leather reminded him of Yami a bit. There was no doubt that this was the person being chased due to the slightly panicked look in their eyes and the immediate shushing and covering of mouths that took place before they could even get settled into a proper hiding place.

Joey groaned silently. (Or at least he thought he had, the runaway pinched his side while shushing him again) Tristan suddenly started up with a fit of giggles, so Joey wound up helping to keep him quiet.

Joey couldn't think of a better place to be on a Friday night, in a dark alleyway in an unfamiliar country, hold up with a stranger and a smashed Tristan.

The blonde remained quiet, not for the stranger's sake for but his own and Tristan's. Street law anywhere said that if you helped the wrong person you might as well have made whatever indiscretion took place yourself.

Feet stomped pass the little spot, and slowly the stranger loosened his grip on Joey's mouth sliding down his chest and resting there for a moment. Once they stepped into the light Joey could see that it was a guy, though the thin, almost wiry frame had thrown him off at first. The two exchanged silent glances for a moment in the moonlight before he winked at the wheeler, running off in the opposite direction of the gang.

"Hmph, coulda at least said thanks." Joey was seriously getting too old for this.

Tristan stumbled out of the alleyway just then, deciding that he could walk on his own after all. He tried to suppress more of the chuckles that had been pouring out all night, quickly failing as he burst into laughter.

"And just what's so funny huh?" Joey asked flatly.

"Whoo, man it was hilarious." Tristan belted.

"What?" Joey questioned, irritated."

"You didn't even see it."

"Spit it out!" Joey barked.

"That chick just stole your deck."


End file.
